What does tough mean?
Definitions for tough
tʌftough
Here are all the possible meanings and translations of the word tough.
Princeton's WordNet
street fighter, tough(noun)
someone who learned to fight in the streets rather than being formally trained in the sport of boxing
hood, hoodlum, goon, punk, thug, tough, toughie, strong-armer(noun)
an aggressive and violent young criminal
bully, tough, hooligan, ruffian, roughneck, rowdy, yob, yobo, yobbo(adj)
a cruel and brutal fellow
tough(adj)
not given to gentleness or sentimentality
"a tough character"
rugged, tough(adj)
very difficult; severely testing stamina or resolution
"a rugged competitive examination"; "the rugged conditions of frontier life"; "the competition was tough"; "it's a tough life"; "it was a tough job"
tough, toughened(adj)
physically toughened
"the tough bottoms of his feet"
sturdy, tough(adj)
substantially made or constructed
"sturdy steel shelves"; "sturdy canvas"; "a tough all-weather fabric"; "some plastics are as tough as metal"
ruffianly, tough(adj)
violent and lawless
"the more ruffianly element"; "tough street gangs"
bad, tough(adj)
feeling physical discomfort or pain (`tough' is occasionally used colloquially for `bad')
"my throat feels bad"; "she felt bad all over"; "he was feeling tough after a restless night"
tough(adj)
resistant to cutting or chewing
hard, tough(adj)
unfortunate or hard to bear
"had hard luck"; "a tough break"
baffling, elusive, knotty, problematic, problematical, tough(adj)
making great mental demands; hard to comprehend or solve or believe
"a baffling problem"; "I faced the knotty problem of what to have for breakfast"; "a problematic situation at home"
Wiktionary
tough(Noun)
A person who obtains things by force; a thug or bully.
They were doing fine until they encountered a bunch of toughs from the opposition.
Etymology: From toh, from tanhuz.
tough(Verb)
To endure.
Etymology: From toh, from tanhuz.
tough(Verb)
To toughen.
Etymology: From toh, from tanhuz.
tough(Adjective)
strong and resilient; sturdy
The tent, made of tough canvas, held up to many abuses.
Etymology: From toh, from tanhuz.
tough(Adjective)
difficult to cut or chew
To soften a tough cut of meat, the recipe suggested simmering it for hours.
Etymology: From toh, from tanhuz.
tough(Adjective)
rugged or physically hardy
Only a tough species will survive in the desert.
Etymology: From toh, from tanhuz.
tough(Adjective)
Stubborn.
He had a reputation as a tough negotiator.
Etymology: From toh, from tanhuz.
tough(Adjective)
harsh or severe
Etymology: From toh, from tanhuz.
tough(Adjective)
rowdy or rough.
A bunch of the tough boys from the wrong side of the tracks threatened him.
Etymology: From toh, from tanhuz.
tough(Adjective)
difficult or demanding
This is a tough crowd.
Etymology: From toh, from tanhuz.
tough(Adjective)
Undergoing plastic deformation before breaking.
Etymology: From toh, from tanhuz.
Webster Dictionary
Tough
having the quality of flexibility without brittleness; yielding to force without breaking; capable of resisting great strain; as, the ligaments of animals are remarkably tough
Tough
not easily broken; able to endure hardship; firm; strong; as, tough sinews
Tough
not easily separated; viscous; clammy; tenacious; as, tough phlegm
Tough
stiff; rigid; not flexible; stubborn; as, a tough bow
Tough
severe; violent; as, a tough storm
Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
Tough
tuf, adj. not easily broken: firm: stiff, viscous, sticky: stubborn, hard to manage, trying: violent: tenacious: able to endure hardship.—n. a rough, a bully.—v.t. or v.i. Tough′en, to make or become tough.—adj. Tough′ish, rather tough.—adv. Tough′ly.—n. Tough′ness. [A.S. tóh; cog. with Ger. zähe.]
British National Corpus
Spoken Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'tough' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #3162
Written Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'tough' in Written Corpus Frequency: #2971
Adjectives Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'tough' in Adjectives Frequency: #328
Anagrams for tough »
ought
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of tough in Chaldean Numerology is: 7
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of tough in Pythagorean Numerology is: 8
Examples of tough in a Sentence
It's a tough time to survive.
The tough thing with her inall of our transplants -- we breakit down into the first 24 hours, the first week, the first month orso, and there are all these differentmilestones to make sure thereare no surgical complicationsimmediately.We want to see that theres noproblems with rejection, withEds liver.
We believe that Burkina Faso are in a tough fight and the fight is getting tougher, there's new tools that are available for us to grow our deep security relationship.
You can't say activity is like it was before COVID. As long as the restaurants are shut, it's going to be tough for us.
Detroit is just a tough, gritty city, wayne Daniels has said this for years :' It's at the intersection of muscle and brains.' It's an area of the country where folks understand hard work... They are passionate about and committed to their city.
Popularity rank by frequency of use
Translations for tough
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- صارمArabic
- zähGerman
- σκληρός, τραχύςGreek
- de mano dura, resistente, severoSpanish
- سفتPersian
- hankala, kova, sitkeä, vaativa, kovis, ankaraFinnish
- dur, difficileFrench
- righinIrish
- fulangach, tapaidh, righinnScottish Gaelic
- rágósHungarian
- duroItalian
- たいへん, きつい, 辛いJapanese
- გამძლე, უხეში, მკაცრი, ხულიგანიGeorgian
- lentaLatin
- taaiDutch
- vanskeligNorwegian
- کلک, ګران, سختPashto, Pushto
- resistentePortuguese
- трудный, тяжкий, тяжёлый, прочный, жёсткийRussian
- tuffSwedish
- sertTurkish
- 强硬Chinese
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"tough." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2021. Web. 6 Mar. 2021. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/tough>.